1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a probe and, more particularly, to a probe for an ultrasound system that generates internal images of a patient body with ultrasound waves, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an ultrasound system refers to a non-invasive apparatus that irradiates an ultrasound signal from a surface of a patient body towards a target internal organ beneath the body surface and obtains an image of a monolayer or blood flow in soft tissue from information in the reflected ultrasound signal (ultrasound echo-signal). The ultrasound system has been widely used for diagnosis of the heart, the abdomen, the urinary organs, and in obstetrics and gynecology due to various merits such as small size, low price, real-time image display, and high stability through elimination of any radiation exposure, as compared with other image diagnostic systems, such as X-ray diagnostic systems, computerized tomography scanners (CT scanners), magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs), nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatuses, and the like.
Particularly, the ultrasound system includes a probe which transmits an ultrasound signal to a patient body and receives the ultrasound echo-signal reflected therefrom to obtain the ultrasound image of the patient body.
The probe includes a transducer, a case with an open upper end, a cover coupled to the open upper end of the case to directly contact the body surface of the patient, and the like.
The transducer includes a piezoelectric layer in which a piezoelectric material converts electrical signals into sound signals or vice versa while vibrating, a coordination layer reducing a difference in sound impedance between the piezoelectric layer and a patient body to allow as much of the ultrasound waves generated from the piezoelectric layer to be transferred to the patient body as possible, a lens layer focusing the ultrasound waves, which travel in front of the piezoelectric layer, onto a predetermined point, and a backing layer blocking the ultrasound waves from traveling in a rearward direction of the piezoelectric layer to prevent image distortion.
The piezoelectric layer includes a piezoelectric member and electrodes provided to upper and lower ends of the piezoelectric member, respectively. Further, a printed circuit board (PCB) is bonded to the piezoelectric layer. The PCB is joined to the piezoelectric member by soldering with a solder such as lead or the like.
Here, since soldering between the piezoelectric member and the PCB is a difficult and laborious operation entailing heat generation, not only does the probe require a long manufacturing time, but also is likely to undergo deterioration in performance of the piezoelectric member resulting from the heat generated during the soldering operation. Moreover, since the soldering is carried out by a manual operation, a soldered portion has a low durability and uniformity, causing deterioration in performance of the probe. Therefore, there is a need for an improved probe that overcomes such problems.